He is remembered as the first prince in India who gave up his principality to become a freedom fighter against the British Raj.
[2] He became the ruler of Dhasa succeeding his maternal grandfather Ambaidas who adopted him as heir to the throne.
[5] During the 1930 Civil Disobedience Movement, the entire Desai family was imprisoned including Gopaldas, his wife Bhaktiba, the two elder sons Mahendra and Suryakant, and their wives and even their newborn son, a mere six-month-old, Barindra.
[1] Gopaldas and Bhaktiba worked for the Gandhian causes of eradication of untouchability and for women's education.
They were the pioneers in advancing female literacy in Gujarat and Saurashtra, especially the residential schools for girls.
[9] Soon after independence, it was Darbar Gopaldas who was given the honour in 1947 to lay the foundation stone of Kirti Mandir, the memorial for Mahatma Gandhi in his birthplace Porbandar.